Republican calls on Cuomo to ‘fire the man blocking 9/11 church rebuilding effort’

You might have heard of New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial decision not to invite clergy to the ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9-11. Many people of faith felt shunned by that decision. But what has received much less attention is the controversy over St. Nicholas Church, a Greek Orthodox church founded by Greek immigrants in 1916 that was destroyed on that fateful September day.

Now,George Demos, a conservative Republican running for Congress in New York’s First District, is calling on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to fire Christopher Ward, the Port Authority Director Demos believes has been “stonewalled reconstruction.”

“A year ago, I stood with Governor Pataki at Ground Zero and we called on the Port Authority to stop obstructing the 9/11 Church,” Demos wrote in an email to supporters. “But sadly, Ward has continued to resist every reasonable effort to rebuild.”

“Governor Cuomo, the time has come to fire Christopher Ward, so that the little white church can rise again at Ground Zero — in honor of the souls lost that day and in honor of America,” Demos added.